[One Sip of a Book] 'We Need Science' to Avoid Being Swayed by Lies and Superstitions

Some sentences encapsulate the entire content of the book itself, while others instantly reach the reader's heart, creating a connection with the book. We introduce such meaningful sentences excerpted from the book. - Editor's note

This book discusses the importance of ‘science,’ which has become even more precious and urgent in an era of post-truth and irrationality where lies and superstition gain power. Furthermore, it proposes that ‘scientific thinking’ is the way to accurately see and love the world in the face of falsehood and hypocrisy. In today's world, where fake news, pseudoscience, and conspiracy theories continuously reproduce suspicion and conflict, the book revisits the ‘power of the scientific attitude’?to doubt rationally and judge critically?by examining the history of science and the profiles of scientists who have carefully connected the web of truth based on cooperation and sharing.

While the status of science rises in such times, superstition, pseudoscience, and hateful propaganda also spread faster than usual, exploiting anxious, fearful, and suspicious minds. Stories circulate claiming that the novel coronavirus is actually a biochemical weapon, that COVID-19 is caused by dangerous cellphone electromagnetic waves, or that secret elite organizations have conspired to reduce the Earth's population using COVID-19. In this complex world, we must answer important and difficult questions. What can we believe? What can we know? What should we believe?

<16 pages>

The story of general relativity also shows that in science, we cannot advance far by intuition or mere feelings alone. Our instinctive senses inevitably fail in complex physics. The claims of general relativity seem truly absurd at first glance. Spacetime bends, and light bends accordingly?does that make sense? Should we believe it? Yes, we must. Academic truth does not depend on whether it pleases us or not. Scientific theories do not have to align with intuition. Facts are facts. Gravity is not intuition. <31 pages>

Not all compromises are important, and truth is not always somewhere in the middle. If I claimed that four unicorns live in my bathroom, would you believe me? Would you say, “Okay, but four is too many, so let's agree on two”? Sometimes one proposition is absolutely right, and the other is simply wrong. People who claim the Earth is a flat disc, or that cancer can be treated using the universe’s energy, or that unicorns live in the bathroom, are not correct. They are not just a little wrong?they are completely wrong. If you compromise between truth and nonsense, it means you are leaning toward nonsense. <298 pages>

We Need Science | Written by Florian Aigner | Translated by Yoo Youngmi | Galmaenamu | 340 pages | 18,000 KRW

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